NATIONAL SERVICE PARTNER FEATURE

...an Alpha Sigma Tau National Service Partner, isn’t allowing a pandemic to interfere with their mission of empowering girls to close the gender gap in technology. Here’s how the international nonprofit shifted gears during the COVID-19 global health crisis.

Every Monday, Girls Who Code released activities for anyone who is curious about computer science and coding. The activities vary in difficulty, and each activity features a woman in tech who pioneered innovative technology.

Some activity themes include:

Code at Home activities are the perfect way to introduce the girls in your life to coding or explore it for yourself.

As stay-at-home orders were enforced around the country, Girls Who Code quickly realized the girls participating in Clubs would soon be missing out on the invaluable lessons offered through their facilitated programs. They pivoted and developed more resources to help facilitators and girls have successful virtual meetings. Help today’s girls become tomorrow’s leaders in technology by starting and leading a Girls Who Code Club for: • your children and their classmates • students in the school where you teach • the girls in your community Learn more: alphasigmatau.org/gwc

If you were watching the Super Bowl in February, you likely saw Girls Who Code featured in a commercial. The ad, which posed the cheeky question, “Is there enough space in space for women?” promoted women and girls in STEM. For every tweet using #MakeSpaceForWomen, Olay donated one dollar—up to $500k—to Girls Who Code. Olay reached that milestone and donated $500k to Girls Who Code, and our Sisters enjoyed taking part in this meaningful social campaign.

Typically clients try on clothes in person, but while everything has been shut down, we got creative. We distributed a questionnaire to clients to learn their sizes, needs, and preferred colors and patterns, and then sent them a box of outfits curated from our collection. Out of all the boxes we’ve sent, only one pair of shoes didn’t fit!

It has been challenging not to have inperson contact with clients, but we’ve hosted virtual workshops focusing on everything from stress relief to financial preparedness to filing for unemployment. Broadband internet can be hard to come by here in the rural areas, so we’ve been sending more resources by mail to make sure we reach those clients.

RIVER CITIES

Just as Alpha Sigma Tau and so many other organizations had to pivot services during the COVID-19 pandemic, so did affiliates of Dress for Success, one of our National Service Partners. Jessica Hudson (Omicron 1997/Concord), Executive Director of Dress for Success River Cities in West Virginia, shares her perspective on how COVID shaped the organization’s needs and how you can best help Dress for Success serve clients during this time.

I told my team to prepare for a surge in clients, because this pandemic has disproportionately impacted women. We’re going to see women who were gainfully employed and now have no job to go back to. We’re going to see women, who before this pandemic probably never thought they’d need help from Dress for Success, knocking on our doors. We’re here to support women at this time when they need us most.

We’ve gone many weeks without clothing donations, as many affiliates have, and we’ll need help sorting and inventorying this surge in donations. Volunteering at a Boutique may not be possible right now due to social distancing, but some affiliates have warehouses where you may be able to help. A way to get involved virtually is to volunteer with your unique skills. If you’re in human resources, volunteer to review resumes. If you have marketing or advertising experience, help your local affiliate expand its reach. You can also check with your local Dress for Success affiliate to see if they have specific needs and host a drive for those items. The collective power of women is so exciting! Learn more: alphasigmatau.org/dfs